WASHINGTON,
DC – Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today that Florida will receive a
total of $2,000,000 to support prisoner reentry initiatives. The Florida awards
were among 68 grants totaling $100 million to support efforts to ensure public
safety and reduce victimization by helping returning offenders become
productive members of their communities.Forty-nine states, including Florida, and the District of Columbia and
Virgin Islands will receive the funds.

The
grants, awarded by the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP),
are part of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, an
unprecedented collaboration among the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce,
Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice,
Labor and Veterans Affairs.

“By
educating and treating offenders, we are not only helping them improve their lives,
we are reducing the chance they will return to crime and drug abuse,” said
Attorney General Ashcroft.“My hope is
that the reentry programs will improve public safety and reduce the burden on
law enforcement and corrections.”

The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative will build on innovative
reentry efforts in states for both juveniles and adults with the goal that
these efforts serve as nationwide models.Reentry efforts will begin while offenders are still in correctional
facilities, continue through offenders’ transition back into the community and
help sustain ex-offenders through services such as employment training and
substance abuse and mental health treatment.Efforts will be tailored to any one, or combination of, the following
age groups: Youth (ages 14 ‑ 17); Young Adult (ages 18 ‑ 24) and
Adult (ages 25+).These efforts involve
close coordination among institutional corrections, law enforcement, community
corrections and other community-based service providers.

Within
Florida, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) will receive $1,000,000
to partner with the Palm Beach County Workforce Development Board and several
state and local agencies to develop a community‑based reentry program,
which will focus on public safety, reduction of recidivism among youthful
offenders, and a decrease in overall crime rates.

The Florida
Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) will receive $1,000,000 and will target
offenders between the ages of 15 and 19 who have committed at least one violent
felony.FDJJ will implement the
programs in Duval County, Circuit 4 -- serving 25 offenders annually; Miami‑Dade
County, Circuit 11 -- serving 100 offenders annually, and Hillsborough County,
Circuit 13 -- serving 25 offenders annually.

“These
programs are all tailored to meet the unique needs of the state and local
communities,” added Ashcroft.“But they
draw together different disciplines to develop state-of-the art, integrated
reentry efforts.”

The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative is designed to address all
three stages involved in returning an offender to the community.The process involves education, treatment
and life skills programs while offenders are in institutions, services and
supervision as they reenter the community and networks of agencies, and
individuals to support offenders as they become productive and law-abiding
members of their communities.

More
information about the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and other
OJP programs is available on OJP’s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov .Media should contact OJP’s Office of
Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.